Contradiction as Agency: Self-Determination, Transcendence, and Counter-Imagination in Third Wave Feminism

Abstract:

This essay examines the contradictions often found in third wave feminist texts that
function as strategic choices that may shape, foster, and enhance an individual’s sense
of agency. Many third wave feminists utilize contradiction as a way to understand
emergent identities, to develop new ways of thinking, and to imagine new forms of
social action. Agency, then, stems from the use of contradiction as a means of self-
determination and identity, of transcendence of seemingly forced or dichotomous
choices, and counter-imaginations of a better future.

Description:

DOI: 10.1111/j.1527-2001.2009.01029.x
"This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: "Contradiction as Agency: Self-Determination, Transcendence, and Counter-Imagination in Third Wave Feminism", which has been published in final form at onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1527-2001.2009.01029.x/abstract . This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving."